1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lasers. More specifically, the present invention relates to Q-switched and mode-locked lasers.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is an increasing need for compact active laser imaging sensors for detection and identification in battlefield environments and other applications. For these applications, a pulsed transmitter is used for flash ladar implementation as these devices offer high resolution for hidden and/or camouflaged target detection and identification. These applications require a laser source that is eye-safe (i.e. with a wavelength of 1400-1700 nm), with a short pulse width (i.e., less that 0.5 nanoseconds in duration) and high energy per pulse (i.e., 1-5 millijoules). Short pulse width lasers are needed to provide sufficient resolution to permit automatic target resolution. High energy per pulse is required to allow for standoff operation.
A laser is a device that emits a spatially coherent beam of light at a specific wavelength. In a laser, a lasing element is placed within a laser resonator cavity and pumped with an energy source such as a flash lamp. The pumping action produces stored energy and gain within the lasing element. When the gain exceeds the losses, so that there is a net light amplification per round trip of the light in the resonator cavity, laser light begins to build up in the cavity, and stored energy is extracted from the lasing element.
This energy can be released in the form of a very short, intense light pulse by using a device called a Q-switch. A laser can also operate in a mode-locked mode. A laser resonator of length L supports a number of modes separated by the inverse-round-trip time of the light field given by:
                              Δ          ⁢                                          ⁢          v                =                  c                      2            ⁢            L                                              [        1        ]            where c is the speed of the light field in the laser cavity. The number of longitudinal modes that a laser can support is governed by the gain bandwidth of the laser gain medium, Δθ. This gain bandwidth in common laser systems such as Nd:YAG is typically on the order of 100 GHz. Hence, cavity/resonator lengths of ˜1 meter can support ˜103 modes. (Conversely, ultra-short resonators such as microchip lasers having resonator lengths of ˜1 mm will typically operate in a single longitudinal mode regime).
In order to generate short pulses (on the order of a nanosecond or less), the laser will typically have a Q switch. A Q-switch can be an active device that is controlled or driven by an external signal. The Q-switch can also be a passive. structure that has no external control, but instead operates periodically as a result of its own properties. Passive Q-switches, when available, are usually the preferred method for obtaining Q-switched pulses because of their low cost, efficiency, reliability, simplicity, and other advantages.
A saturable absorber (SA)—or bleachable filter—can be used as a passive Q-switch. A saturable absorber is a material: solid (crystal, glass, polymer); or liquid (dye) having transmittance properties that vary as a function of the intensity of the incident light that falls upon this material. When light of low intensity is incident upon the saturable absorber, its light transmittance is relatively low, resulting in high cavity losses. As the incident light energy increases, due to the buildup of energy within the laser resonator cavity, the light transmittance of the SA material increases. At some point, the light transmittance increases to a level such that the SA “bleaches”, i.e., becomes transparent, so that the cavity losses become low, and an intense Q-switched light pulse is emitted.
To achieve short pulse widths, the SA must switch quickly to the transparent state. However, for fast operation, the absorption cross-section of the SA is required to be much much larger than the stimulated emission cross-section of the laser gain medium: σSA>>σse. If this is not the case, Q-switch performance generally degrades and output pulse widths increase.
Unfortunately, the cross-section of conventional saturable absorbers is typically on the order of 10 times or less the cross-section of conventional laser gain mediums. Hence, shorter pulse widths have not heretofore been possible.
To compensate for this shortcoming, prior approaches have involved the use of high gain Neodymium microchip lasers. In this application, the output is typically converted to an eye safe range using an optical parametric amplifier. Unfortunately, Neodymium is a poor energy storage laser material and outputs pulses only on the order of micro-joules in energy.
Another approach involves the use of erbium-ytterbium glass lasers with short end pumped cavities to achieve the desired short pulse widths. However, erbium-ytterbium glass microchip lasers are characteristically low gain devices. In addition, the erbium-ytterbium transfer process required by these devices typically necessitates the use of an energy inefficient pumping scheme. Consequently, erbium-ytterbium lasers are also typically too limited with respect to energy output levels to be used for the more demanding current applications mentioned above.
Hence, a need remains in the art for a short pulse length, high energy eye-safe laser.